Delphi raises $2.7M for AI-powered digital cloning platform

Image: Delphi website

By Riley Kaminer

Have you ever wanted to have one last conversation with a relative that had passed away? Or wanted to get your favorite celebrity’s perspective on something happening in your life?

Now, that’s possible, thanks to Miami-based startup Delphi. The one-year-old startup has developed a platform that enables users to upload anywhere from four to thousands of documents and create their very own AI chatbot.

Delphi has just announced a $2.7 million fundraise led by Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois, with participation from Lux Capital, Xfund, MVP Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Eight Sleep’s Matteo Franceschetti, and others. These funds will be used for a mix of product development and business growth.

Co-founder and CEO Dara Ladjevardian cut his teeth as a software engineer at enterprise AI platform C3 AI before leaving to build an AI-powered shopping assistant. He exited the startup and moved to Miami to work at OpenStore, the Miami scaleup where Rabois is co-founder and CEO.

In an interview with VentureBeat, Ladjevardian explained that the origins of Delphi can be traced back to his interest in learning more about his grandfather. Ladjevardian was able to read a book about his life, but that just made him want to be able to actually talk to him even more.

“I created a clone of him using his book and kind of treated it as my own personal mentor as I was building out that startup,” Ladjevardian said.

Influencers will be the main focus for the expansion of Delphi’s platform. “We’re focused on helping coaches, creators, experts, politicians, CEOs – people with high intellectual leverage – scale themselves and make themselves available to others,” asserted Ladjevardian.

“[Delphi has] opened up endless possibilities for creators today to not only save time but also build stronger and more meaningful connections with their audience,” he said in a statement.

While the exact details of Delphi’s revenue model are still under wraps, Ladjevardian signaled that the company might charge a monthly subscription fee based on how much usage a clone gets – with the option to add-on additional features.

Delphi’s platform is still in private beta but has already been tested out by 100 users. “We’re focused on capturing someone’s mind and relaying that through text and voice,” said Ladjevardian.

For now, this also extends to cloning famous peoples’ personalities yourself using publicly-available information. That’s how the company has cloned Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Aristotle, Warren Buffett, and more. To do this at scale, Ladjevardian noted that the company will create guardrails to prevent the tool from being abused.

As you might expect, Ladjevardian has already cloned himself. So what did he make of the experience? “I called myself and spoke to myself for 10 minutes and it was weirdly therapeutic.”

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Riley Kaminer

I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.